Abstract

CASTRO, Roberto  and  VILLANUEVA, Marcia. Agency and institutional mechanisms: The structural reproduction of the Mexican medical field. Rev. Mex. Sociol [online]. 2023, vol.85, n.2, pp.431-464.  Epub May 05, 2023. ISSN 2594-0651.  https://doi.org/10.22201/iis.01882503p.2023.2.60565.

There is an agentive component (professional habitus) that reproduces the structure of the medical field through institutional mechanisms such as the referral and counter-referral of patients between levels of healthcare, which maintain a dialectic relationship with the hierarchies of specialties. Using Bourdieuʼs game analogy, this article analyses medical testimonies about the pressure of the system to specialize; on the work of first and second level doctors, and on the interactions between doctors working at different levels. These elements ensure the operation and reproduction of the structure of the field.

Keywords : medical field; hierarchies; professional habitus; healthcare system.